We are thrilled to be selected as Washington State Representative Adam Smith’s 2018 Angels in Adoption® Honoree for our unique contribution to supporting Western Washington’s most vulnerable children and families! “Congratulations to Amara for being recognized as a 2018 Angel in Adoption. Amara has positively contributed to the lives of countless children in the foster care system throughout our region,” said Representative Adam Smith. “As an adoptee

Yesterday, an anti-LGBTQ federal funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services passed out of committee. The bill included an amendment that would allow child welfare agencies that receive federal funding to discriminate against prospective foster and adoptive parents based on the agency’s religious beliefs. We feel a responsibility to speak up on behalf of children in foster care and the families who

Diana and Sergey Chudak are changing children’s lives every day. They began working with Amara in 2015 and, over the course of three years, they have welcomed 12 children into their lives, caring for them and supporting them for however long is needed. One child has been with them two years. Another just arrived last week. Diana and Sergey have also provided short-term care for

It’s time to say good-bye to 2017 and look ahead with bright-eyed hope and energy to 2018! At Amara, our hopes and plans for 2018 are, as always, for children in foster care and the families who care for them. There’s a lot we can do together to improve the well-being of children entering and experiencing foster care, as well as children who have been

Katherine Joseph, Partnerships & Events Associate The very first issue of The Crossroads – Amara’s Quarterly Bulletin has now hit inboxes. We’re launching this new community newsletter to prompt dialogue, collaboration, and innovation throughout the child welfare field. This forum will be a platform to share inter-organizational news and resources, and to highlight original writing from professionals and stakeholders advocating for children and youth. What to look

By Angela Tucker, Amara Post-Adoption Program Manager On my first day at Amara, I was greeted by an Excel spreadsheet: A program outline created by 12-year-old adoptee Davon Carroll. The document was entitled TSSP, which stood for “The Stay Strong Project,” and it was a proposal for a new mentorship program for Amara adoptees, many of whom were in foster care. Davon’s detailed outline included

By John Morse, Executive Director There is no shortage of reports and stories in the print and social media about the dire state of foster care in our state and throughout the country. Statistics reinforce the message: Half the roughly 9,000 children in care in Washington are 5 years old or younger, one-quarter of these children have lived in five or more homes, and annual state

By Nell Abercrombie, Communications Coordinator We are excited about our new community mural, now welcoming visitors to our home in the Rainier Valley neighborhood! The 104-foot painting, located in front of our headquarters right next to Martin Luther King Jr. Way, has already been inspiring smiles and photos from those passing by. We commissioned the mural to symbolize the journey children take through the foster care system,

Over the course of a week, a team from IKEA Seattle transformed two of our most important meeting rooms into fun, comfortable, welcoming spaces. Our Giraffe room is now full of child-friendly furniture and toys, and the icing on the cake is – what else? – a giant giraffe stencil on the wall. Elephant is stocked with sleek furniture, setting us up for productive meetings. These two

For over three hours yesterday, Amara staff learned and discussed how we could better support families and children in foster care. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children – All Families project led the workshop on improving LGBTQ cultural competency. We heard from a family who embraced learning about mentoring and caring for a gay foster youth, and also from LGBTQ youth in foster care